OUR HEAVY iTAXATION.
At all . events, unless there should be some quite unexpected falling off in -Revenue during the next 2.4- .months, there is no reason to suppose that the Deficit (if any) will be of a size compelling any kind of fresh borrowing operations: It- will rather be a case of the year closing with less debt having been redeemed than had been hoped- for at- the outset 'when- a- good deal of credit was taken for-the-fact-that-we had raised the fixed Sinking Fund- to no -less than £50,000,000 annually. Nevertheless, this increase .in Expenditure—and it Must be remembered that a considerable increase was budgeted for apart from the coal subsidy—eight years after the conclusion of the War is a discouraging factor, and_ it has, moreover, to be eonsidered in the light of its accompaniments in- the shape of unfavourable trade figures, continued unemployment for a large section of the community, and the fact that, as compared with other nations, Britain is still the most heavily taxed,, thus handicapping our industrial and economic recovery. At a moment when the United States is made optimistic by Budget surpluses and remitted taxes, the advent of our own Budget next April has to be reckoned among the factors tending to depress both financial and industrial activities.
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